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Summary

As the footy season gets going in earnest, so another FIFA game laces up and steps out onto the pitch. This is not one of those years offering incremental upgrades and a load of new kits, however. Nope, FIFA 17 is boasting a couple of heavyweight improvements to proceedings.

The first and most obvious is a brand-new career mode called The Journey. Calling it a career mode doesn't quite do it justice, though, this single-player campaign comes with something that's usually anathema to sports games - a story.

It delivers a warm rags-to-riches tale of a young player named Alex Hunter, a 17-year-old up and comer kicking off his career in the Premier League at a club of your choice. Players will take him along the path from green noob to Premier League all-star.

The other big change is under the hood. The 2016/17 season marks the debut of the Frostbite game engine for the FIFA series. Originally built by developer DICE to power first-person shooters, it makes a smooth transition to the world of sports. One of the key changes EA has implemented with this new engine is to speed the action up after reducing the tempo for FIFA 16, making for a sharper, quicker game than that of the previous season.

The switch also comes with cosmetic changes, with the Frostbite engine making FIFA 17 a serious contender for best-looking football game ever.

As ever, FIFA is chock-full of things to do. The pre-existing career mode has been improved to give you more control of your team, while the card-trading Ultimate Team mode has also had a significant updgate.

All in all, there's more than ever to keep football fans happy in FIFA 17.